Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Phillip Goodhand-Tait has had his songs recorded by artists ranging from Gene Pitney to Roger Daltrey and has also fronted a number of bands in his many decades in the music industry. Cherry Red Group imprint RPM has collected 27 tracks by singer-musician-songwriter Goodhand-Tait, solo and with his bands The Stormsville Shakers and Circus as One and One is Two: Complete Recordings 1965-1967.

Born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Goodhand-Tait began his music career while still in his teenage years. In his new liner notes penned especially for this release, he recalls receiving the sum of five pounds for assembling a five-piece band to play a dance at the local drill hall in 1960. After flirting with names The Royphillians, Phil Tone and the Midnighters, and The Vibrants, the group settled on The Stormsville Shakers in 1961. The band, fronted by Goodhand-Tait on piano, included Paul Demers on drums, Ivor Shackleton on guitar, and Kirk Riddle on bass. By 1963, the band was earning bookings in central London, with some personnel changes.

Dick Forcey replaced Paul Demers on drums, and Steve Howard filled out the sound with his saxophone. By 1965, two new saxophonists had joined the line-up. Though there had been occasional forays into the recording studio before (including a session with The Yardbirds’ impresario Giorgio Gomelsky), the group was on the cusp of a breakthrough when they recorded Chris Andrews’ composition “Long Live Love.” As these things happen, though, Sandie Shaw released her version of the song first, which soared to No. 1 in the U.K. and deprived The Stormsville Shakers of a potential hit.

Parlophone took a chance on the band, but it took the band another year to get a record out. A French EP on the Odeon label also arrived in 1966. By that time, however, the band’s mod brand of R&B and soul was being slowly replaced by more psychedelic acts. The Shakers transformed themselves into Circus, and recorded a number of tracks with Mike D’Abo of Manfred Mann fame. But as he writes, Goodhand-Tait’s heart wasn’t in the direction music was taking: “Supporting Jimi Hendrix at the Saville Theatre in London finally convinced me that I could not empathize with these latest feedback-laced, guitar-led indulgences. I knew then, in 1967, that I was a song man…” And so began his career as a songwriter for groups including Love Affair.

Goodhand-Tait’s early years are chronicled on this comprehensive set which includes his Parlophone and Odeon recordings plus six previously unreleased bonus tracks including the Lennon/McCartney title track. In addition to writing the liner notes, Goodhand-Tait compiled the set with John Reed and remastering engineer Mark Stratford.